Believe me, I'm not complaining about it, I'm just glad I'm not having to force myself to stop eating. After this last fill, I have very little interest in food. It just doesn't sound or look good anymore, KWIM?

I've had a serving of peas and a handful of pecans to eat today. That's it. I should be starving, but I'm not. I've come to the conclusion that if I'm going to get anywhere near the amount of calories I need, I'm going to have to force myself to eat certain amounts at regular intervals. It's completely shocking to me.

I'm so envious! With the lack of hunger, does the "head hunger" diminish too? I just want to have no interest in food.

Sounds like you are in a place many of us want to be!

"head hunger" is still a problem for me sometimes. There are times that I would kill for a Big Mac. I cannot eat bread and I know that I could not eat one. What a deterrent! (I hope I spelled that right). Even though I am not physically hungry and could not POSSIBLY eat one, I still crave them at times, you know? I guess that is "head hunger" or my concept of it.

Oh, and I have had 4 fills totalling 2.6ccs in a 4cc band.

Thanks guys. I am there too. I don't care if I eat. I was on a trip recently and couldn't find food - was rationing my Protein shakes to survive and just thinking it would be easier if I never had to waste time with food. But I did come home two days early cuz I knew I needed to eat. How strange!

I have recipes to die for, huge parties with tons of food, and I seldom taste any of it. I love my band!

Well, I'm 2 days post 1st fill (2 cc in a 10 cc band). Unless it takes a while for it to start working , the only difference I've experienced is I'm not very hungry in the morning and the hunger pains prior to the fill are not as intense . I'd managed to lose 30 lbs prior to fill but was wondering if you are not consuming that much calories, why are you not losing weight any faster? It seems that you have to figure out how many calories you need to consume to lose weight. Some it's 800 and some is 1200 or more. According to the formula I can consume between 1200-1500 daily to lose 1-2 pds weekly which is what they safely recommend. As a matter of fact, there is a warning on sparkspeople.com to not consume under 1000 calories a day. I've kept it between 1000-1200 with a day or so of going over 1200. That's so great if you have to force yourselves to eat though. I am definitely waiting to get to that point! How long did it take you after your first fill to feel restriction? Last night I had 1/2 a vegetable pizza eating very slowly and 1 choc chip cookie. I kept waiting for that signal that I'm full but never really got it. I've never PB'd since I've been banded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coo

I'm so envious! With the lack of hunger, does the "head hunger" diminish too? I just want to have no interest in food.

Sounds like you are in a place many of us want to be!

Fortunately for me, the stuff that I really LOVED and CRAVED before banding is stuff that I can't physically eat right now (bread, pizza, etc.). For me, that takes care of the cravings, for the most part. Once you KNOW that something will cause intense pain if you eat it, it loses a lot of its appeal. One thing I have experienced since this last fill is that even if I do get hungry and crave something, once I sit down to actually eat and take that first bite, the cravings and most of the hunger just disappear.

Well, I'm 2 days post 1st fill (2 cc in a 10 cc band). Unless it takes a while for it to start working , the only difference I've experienced is I'm not very hungry in the morning and the hunger pains prior to the fill are not as intense . I'd managed to lose 30 lbs prior to fill but was wondering if you are not consuming that much calories, why are you not losing weight any faster? It seems that you have to figure out how many calories you need to consume to lose weight. Some it's 800 and some is 1200 or more. According to the formula I can consume between 1200-1500 daily to lose 1-2 pds weekly which is what they safely recommend. As a matter of fact, there is a warning on sparkspeople.com to not consume under 1000 calories a day. I've kept it between 1000-1200 with a day or so of going over 1200. That's so great if you have to force yourselves to eat though. I am definitely waiting to get to that point! How long did it take you after your first fill to feel restriction? Last night I had 1/2 a vegetable pizza eating very slowly and 1 choc chip cookie. I kept waiting for that signal that I'm full but never really got it. I've never PB'd since I've been banded.

I had restriction immediately after my first fill, but it was VERY little. For example instead of eating a piece and a half of lasagna, I'd eat one piece. I could eat bread, pizza, whatever, as long as I chewed very well. I could still gulp.

That's exactly how I feel especially after yesterday at our 126th year Church Anniversary. I was able to eat dressing, lima beans, green beans, pasta salad, pound cake and a little apple pie. But instead of eating all of it, I only ate half and saved the other half for later. I could have eaten more but didn't want to test it and get sick in front of everyone. I'm still using my head to control my eating and I've read sometimes it takes 2 or 3 fills before you fill true restriction. As long as I'm losing, I'm okay. Thanks.

I really am happy for you, but I'm so discouraged! I had my lapb and on April 30th. So far I've had four fills...I'm now at 8.5 ccs in a 10 cc band and still don't have much restriction at all. I still get sooooo hungry!

I just don't know why this is not working for me. I can eat anything...any amount. My doctor said that at 8.5 ccs I'm just about full and he doesn't really know why I don't feel much restriction. I just wish that I had a smaller band or something.

WOW jbates! I'm sorry it's not working for you. It would appear you'd be practically choking with it that full. Maybe someone else that's experienced it like that can help you. Have you tried any exercises yet? Each week I've added more and more. I'm brisk walking on both breaks and 1/2 my lunch plus just this week I've started working with bands doing resistance weight training. The biggest thing that helps me is tracking what I eat so I won't go over a certain amount. The band reminds me not to overeat but at this point not much restriction. I am going to just keep trying different things to get the scale to move. At one point I only lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks but in the last week it finally started moving again. I hope something start working for you soon. Don't give up. Track what you eat. There are several out there that can help. I use sparkspeople.com. You'd be amazed how many calories you're consuming when you don't track what you eat.

I have to remind myself to eat. I've gotten pretty good at having something within an hour of waking up. The rest of the day is the problem. I ate sardines for breakfast at 10:45 and I am still not hungry. I haven't gotten a fill yet and I still have restriction.

Joyouslyme, that is just awesome and you've lost so much already before getting your fill? When were you banded and is it just that the band is reminding you not to eat? Or have you just conditioned yourself to not eat? WOW!!!!

I get hungry, but when I try to eat I can only take a couple of bites. I get that "buffet feeling" from 1/4 cup of soup!

Today I ate more - the whole bowl of Soup - and some chicken for dinner. I thought I was TERRIBLE today until I put my food journal into fitday.com. I was under 1000 calories!!! I've never (pre-banding) eaten less than that. I felt stuffed so I thought I was bad.

I love it, I love it, I love it!!! I'm GIDDY!

jbates- Don't be too discouraged, you still have a lot of room for filling! Bands can be overfilled safely. Your doctor will discuss that with you when the time comes (if it comes) I'm sure.

But I have to tell you, 1cc can be a huge difference. It could be 8cc almost is there, and 1cc would be too much!!

I had .5cc in my band when it was installed. I felt minimal restriction. I did eat less than pre-band (and lost weight), but I could eat anything with no problems. Some things not in the mornings, but that's it. But I could still eat more than I was suppose to.

When I had my revision in Sept. they put 1 full cc in my band, because I kept whining about no restriction from 4 fills (that never went in). In retrospect, I'm surprised he was so aggressive since he found out the reason I was whining is because I wasn't getting filled!!! He normally won't do a full cc at once.

Anyway, I'm now 1.5cc and I am WAY TOO TIGHT. I can't keep anything solid down without spitting up. I am going to get .1-.5cc taken out depending on his recommendation on Monday. Luckily liquids still go down alright, just no chugging.

I feel the same way! I dread going to a restaurant, I do almost anything to avoid it.. I feel bad sometimes but then I remind myself its for the best. best of luck!